About Us
Jeff Mitchell (CTO)
I designed and continually improve (I hope) the architecture that sits underneath MusicHype and pulls all the services together. We are just getting started and I'm excited by all the cool ways we will expand.
I'm a Canadian living in LA. But before that I moved to Wellington, NZ, in 2001 fresh out of Computer Science at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island. I actually moved there the same week as 9/11 which made for a surreal first OE.
First job in Welly was with NZMusic.com, a great fan and band community site. It was supposed to be just a couple of months in NZ but 10 years in the creative city I packed up for LA.
I've always enjoyed working with web-services that are interactive and community based. Some of my favourites are MP3 blogs, Songbird, andLast.fm.
For me I love the fact that you can see the entire music industry evolving into it's next online/digital form, and how that evolution is actually bringing bands and fans closer together.
Top Five Albums of the 2000's:
I dread these questions, I like too many. Here's albums that I had on very high rotation when they came out, and go back to a lot.- Weezer - The Green Album
- Beck - Sea Change
- Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
- LCD SoundSystem - Sound of Silver
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Favourite Concerts:
- Tragically Hip - The Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver
- Radiohead - Thunderbird Stadium - Vancouver
- Rolling Stones - Westpac Trust Wellington
Annabel Youens (CMO)
My title says "CMO" but I do a bit of everything. I write up strategy docs, go to gigs, test out new technology & work with the team to build MusicHype. I love that my job never gets boring and my team is quite amazing. Brilliant!
I'm originally from Canada but travelled a lot with my family, as a child. We lived in Jakarta and Brisbane and finally went back to Calgary.
Although Calgary is very much know for country music there was quite a big punk scene when I was in high school. Much to my parents dismay I pierced my eyebrow and wore the obligatory army pants, doc martin boots and band t-shirt (RHCP, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden). We drank a lot of coffee, went to all ages gigs at the Carpenters Union Hall and polished off Big Bear 40oz bottles of beer in the parking lot. The tapes cycling through my Honda were: Pearl Jam - 10, Soundgarden - Superunknown, Pixies - Doolittle, RHCP - Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual, NOFX - Punk in Drublic, continue in that vein....
My musical tastes broadened at the University of Victoria, BC. I worked on my creative writing/journalism degree and spent a lot of time with my roommate Melody going to punk, ska and indie gigs. Melody played an acoustic guitar so she introduced me to lofi singer songwriters like Julianna Hatfield, Mary Lou Lord, Evan Dando, continue in that vein...
After working for five years at an internet start up in Victoria,www.abebooks.com, I moved to Wellington, NZ to work and consult in digital and web. I'm lucky that I've found a job that combines all my loves - the web, writing, community and music. Now I'm discovering what life is like in Los Angeles. I'm already a member at MOMA & love being able to go to a gig any night of the week.
Life Altering Albums:
- New Order - Substance
- The Cure - Standing on a Beach
- Depeche Mode - Violator
- Pearl Jam - 10
- Radiohead - OK Computer
- Beck - Midnight Vultures
Top Concerts:
- Soundgarden on their Superunknown tour, Toronto, CA (phenomenal...just phenomenal)
- New Order with Billy Corgan, Vancouver, CA (all time classic)
- Stephen Malkamus & the Jicks, Los Angeles, CA, USA (what a show!!)
- Hayden on his Elk Lake Serenade tour, Wellington, NZ (perfect intimate show)
- Outkast, Vancouver, BC (a chance encounter and they blew my mind)
- Evan Dando on a solo tour, Wellington, NZ (when he attacked a crowd heckler!)
Mike Penhall (Product Manager)
Often when you see a blog, Facebook Status or Tweet from MusicHype, you're hearing from Mike. He also bug tests and creates many of the cool features we use to power MusicHype.com. An enthusiastic music lover, he has played bass and guitar in several punk and rock and roll bands around town. Currently between bands, he passes his time by organising indie rock nights around Wellington under the guise Riot Radio
Mike's top ten albums of the last decade:
- At The Drive-In "Relationship of Command"
- The Libertines - "Up the Bracket"
- Wilco - "A Ghost Is Born"
- Green Day - "American Idiot"
- Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - "The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager"
- The Postal Service - "Give Up"
- Elliott Smith - "Figure 8"
- The Go! Team - "Thunder, Lightning, Strike"
- Lightspeed Champion - "Falling Off The Lavender Bridge"
- Bedouin Soundclash - "Sounding A Mosaic"
See Mike on: LastFM, Twitter and Riot Radio Blog
Kevin King (CEO)
Nearly 7 years ago, Kevin King read a book entitled The Future of Music while working at Sony Music in New York City. The basis of the book dramatically changed the course of Kevin’s career. Sensing the shift in the music business, Kevin headed west to San Francisco and spent almost 5 years working closely with up and coming startups at the time, including iTunes, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Napster and Real Networks.
Kevin has worked at most of the major labels during his 10 year music career. Most recently, he has devoted his career and passion to social and mobile music. Kevin sits on 2 advisory boards in the social music space, Blip.fm and Mobbase. He created the Blip.fm Sessions and executed more than 20 sessions with artists including: Plain White T’s, Gomez, Good Old War, One Eskimo and The Temper Trap. At Mobbase, Kevin has brought on more than 600 artists who utilize the platform to build and distribute mobile apps.